Cleaner charge problem...what would you think?

[achoocashew]

I asked on a local facebook page for a new cleaner as my previous had to stop due to sickness. Several people volunteered and recommended others and i contacted a lady, lets call her Tina. I wanted a good going over of my kitchen, inside and outside cupboards, cleaning tiles and scrubbing floor etc plus all the regular stuff.

This was the conversation we had on messenger:

T - Hi, I can help you, I have my own cleaning company, I’m fully insured and supply all the equipment ... I charge £20 an hour and there’s always two of us x

ME - Hi, thanks for messaging me. Were you talking about the one off clean or regular cleaning?
Can you supply references and are you dbs checked?

T - We can do both? Yes dbs checked and I can ask my old company for a reference as I don’t have any regular ones

M- I meant do you have other people you clean for who I could just have a quick chat with?

T -Yes sure I can give u a number for one ?

M -Great. And when could you do the deep clean? Two people for £20 ph? I'm not sure how long it would take tbh

T - So if we do 4 hours it would be £80 ( an example) I’ve just said to my customer u want a reference and he said you can call him now if you want to his name is Andrew and his no is ‭xxxxx, can do it for you on Friday?

M - Thanks. Friday is about the only day that isn't good for me! Could you do another day?
I have space on thursday at 1.15pm ? U have probably heard this so many times but we are very reliable, will do a brilliant job for you, I invoice at the end of each month so u can either pay, cash, cheque or into my business account.

M -That would be great, thank you. Would you want to pop round so you can see how long it might take or just see on Thursday?

I can pop round tomorrow ? etc etc arranging times.

She popped round a couple of days before, looked at the kitchen to see how small etc, looked at the other rooms . Tina and another lady arrived at 1.10pm today and left just after 3pm.

How much would you expect to pay?!!! She has popped the invoice through my door and i was a bit flummoxed! I'll get to the AIBU when i tell you what she asked for!

I'd go back and say 10 is the going rate and you said 20 per hour and there's always 2 of us. If WE do 4 hours it'll be 80.

Based!! Based not best! Stupid text predictor thing!

I think she meant 4 hours (2 hours each) so yes, she thinks she's right. You thought the two of them were £20 an hour together, so you think you're right.

I’ve had this before op where I had two cleaners come for an hour but they claim it as two hours work because it’s two people doing the same time...

She’s kinda right and you’re kinda right. It’s a miscommunication.

I think you’ll have to chalk it up to experience, pay, but not use again

Wow! £20 an hour! Each! I live in a posh area and only pay half this. Pay her £40 with a polite note saying this is what you were quoted.

Did they do a good job?

Unless she has said the prices quoted were per person / each, or whatever, she's a CD indeed.
I'm my mind she said 'we' so that's £20 per hour.

If it’s £20 per hour per person then perhaps I should leave contract management and go into cleaning, seems it’s considerably better pay!

How can you do a proper deep clean in 2 hours, even with 2 people? When I have had end of tenancy cleans, they have been there for hours, sometimes 2-3 people. Unless it's a tiny house, I can't see how she can charge so much for so little work.

Dear cleaner - to quote you "So if we do 4 hours it would be £80 ( an example)" You did 2 hours, which is half that time so it is £40. This is what I will pay you.
I've been a cleaner, she's taking the piss. Nobody cleaning working for themselves charges £20 per person per hour.

Seriously it's £80. You didn't read the email correctly.

If WE do 4 hours it will be £80. They did 4 hours. 2 hours each, so it's 4 hours.

And where I live (Cheshire), that's the going rate. I pay just over £160 a month for 1 hr cleaning a week with 2 people.

I’ve been conned like this with a cleaner too, they know exactly what they’re doing when they quote you in the way that they do, by not saying it’s £whatever per man hour. I’m usually pretty savvy and was so annoyed with myself for getting caught out like this

It's ridiculously expensive but I can see where the misunderstanding is. You both needed to be clearer in your communication. Pay her and then don't have her back.

So I believe that she thinks that because 2 of them did 2 hours each, that amounts to 4 hours and therefore £80, as she described in her message to you.

I read the message the same as you but I'm not really sure how you can get around it?

Also, I wouldn't have believed her that she just has 'Andrew' lined up with his phone number to call and check references with - definitely a family member.

The operative word is "we" - she has clearly stated that if the two of them do 4 hours it is £80, I bet they try this scam regularly and sometimes people pay because they think they've got it wrong.

But what do i say! I do not want to come across as mean, as i am not, but i also did not expect to pay £40 per hour. She has just said this:

"it was 4 hours, I done 2 and Jill done 2, a lot of the cleaning company’s charge more an hour, I did £20 because it was less than everyone else"

Found, you're being fleeced. Mine is £12 ph and that's the top of the scale in quite an expensive part of the country. I would get a new cleaner.

Funnily enough I pay two ladies to help me with field clearing every now and then. I've just looked at the message they sent me before they started and they said almost exactly the same thing "We work together and charge £20 per hour, in other words if we're there for an hour you pay £20" And guess what that's exactly what they charge.
I don't know why people keep putting WE in capitals and say that they are charging you correctly. Nowhere in the sentence does it say "each". They are trying to con you.

It's a rip off. £40 per hour to clean? She's taking the piss. And probably 'tricked ' you as SheSparkles says. I wouldn't pay it if it was me. I'd pay the £40 and tell her to be clearer in the future.

I would probably pay her but say something like 'thanks for clarifying. Hopefully you can see it is quite misleading for clients and unfortunately I will not be using your company for regular cleaning going forward'.

But they have done 4 hours work. 2 people for 2 hours is 4 hours.
My cleaners work on the same premise. (But not at £20 an hour. It’s £12 an hour)

I see the confusion, but she's nuts if she thinks that the going rate is 20 per person in these circs.

Say what I put in my first message. Maybe add that if you'd known that they wanted £20 per hour each you wouldn't have gone ahead. Suggest that they are clearer next time they quote for a job.
Jeez, they didn't even give you an honest 2 hours. They were packing up before 2 hours were up and nobody hits the ground running in a new house as soon as they arrive.

Oh and I would knock a tenner off, seeing as they only did 1 hr 45 each. Chancers. And I would also point out that you weren't happy with the quality and if she gets arsey, write an honest facebook review.

Didn't this cleaner also state she had no regulars? Or did I read that wrong?

This will be why!

OP Is that true? Their cheaper than most in the area? I'm betting not.